​Abortion debate in Ireland re-ignited as clinically dead pregnant woman kept on life support

Irish health authorities sought legal counsel Thursday night about whether a clinically dead pregnant woman, who had suffered catastrophic brain damage, should be kept on a life support machine to save her unborn baby.

The case has reignited heated debate about Ireland’s abortion
laws. Pro-choice and human rights campaigners warn that the
state’s prohibition of abortion strips women of their basic right
to bodily autonomy, and is hugely oppressive.

The mother of two, who is 17 weeks pregnant, suffered a severe
internal injury several weeks ago resulting from a blood clot.
She was subsequently transferred to Ireland’s leading neurology
department in Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital, where medics fought to
save her life.

While doctors were unable to rescue her, they kept the woman on a
life support machine to protect her unborn child.

The woman’s parents have reportedly requested their daughter’s
life support be switched off.

Irish doctors are unwilling to do so, however, in light of the
country’s constitutional Eighth Amendment, introduced in 1983.
The legislation allocates equal rights to mothers and their
unborn babies.

The brain-damaged woman’s parents are considering legally
challenging the decision to keep their daughter artificially
alive. The complex and tragic case is expected to progress to
Irish courts, with the Irish state representing the unborn baby.

Rising tensions

Previously, Ireland’s Health Minister told the Irish parliament
the amendment has a “chilling effect” on doctors, and is
highly restrictive.

Varadkar is calling for the legalization of abortion in Ireland
where there is a serious risk to the long-term health of women,
and where fatal fetal abnormalities arise.

He is particularly
critical of cases in Ireland where abortions are deemed illegal,
even if a pregnant woman has suffered a“stroke, heart attack, or epileptic
seizure,”causing
permanent disability.

While the Eighth Amendment “protects the right to life of the
mother,” he told Irish MPs on Tuesday, it has “no regard
for her long-term health.”

Varadkar made the comment during a parliamentary debate on
left-wing MP Clare Daly’s bill to repeal the amendment, and
replace it with legislation that “acknowledges the right of
all citizens to personal autonomy and bodily integrity.”

In parliament, Daly argued the policy shift is a “long
overdue measure” that would seek to “protect women’s
lives, health and choices.”

‘A horrendous scenario for Irish women’

Abortion remains one of the most divisive and emotive issues in
Irish society, fracturing political parties, communities and
workplaces across the nation. Successive governments have failed
to confront the issue, despite the fact over 3,000 women leave
Ireland each year for abortions in other states.

Tension concerning Ireland’s banning of abortion has mounted of
late amid a slew of controversial cases.

In the last year alone, five migrant women in Ireland who wished
to have abortions were forced to continue with their pregnancies.
They included undocumented women, asylum seekers, and those who
needed a visa to enter other states.

Reflecting on the case of the woman on life support, Irish
Environment Minister Alan Kelly said the situation was “very
sad.”

The Labour Party MP acknowledged the case demonstrated a need for
further revisions to abortion law in Ireland, but said such a
move would not occur in the current coalition's lifetime. The
Labour-Fine Gael coalition government is currently under fire
over its stringent austerity program, particularly its highly
controversial proposed water charges.

Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Daly said Ireland’s abortion
legislation poses a “horrendous scenario for Irish
women,” which has led to countless unnecessary fatalities
she described as “casualties of a nation’s hypocrisy.”

In 2012, 31-year-old Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar died
tragically in Ireland following medics’ refusal to acquiesce to
her request for an abortion. She had experienced severe
complications, which meant she would inevitably miscarry.

Halappanavar died seven days later, having suffered a septic
blood infection that may have been prevented with earlier
intervention.

Following her inquest, her husband described the treatment she
received as “horrendous, barbaric and inhuman.”